New boss Cees 't Hart, a Dutchman who took over at Carlsberg in June, said that the results of his review would be announced only in the first half of next year.

That disappointed some analysts who had hoped for it to be completed by the end of this year. The Danish brewer did not indicate what the new strategy should focus on. How to address problems in its core market of Russia is certain to be a central concern.

Carlsberg lowered its full-year financial guidance and now expects organic operating profit to decline slightly. It had previously forecast organic growth could be close to 10 percent.

"In Western Europe, we experienced bad weather in Q2 in Northern Europe and did not achieve the full range of anticipated savings," Mr Hart said in the earnings statement.

"For the full year, we therefore do not expect that the strong Asian performance will be enough to offset the weaker-than-expected results in Western Europe and the challenging market conditions in Eastern Europe," Hart added.

The results compare unfavourably with those from Heineken, the world's third-largest brewer, which this month announced better than expected earnings for the first half.

Operating profit before special items fell 18.9pc to 2.92 billion Danish crowns (€391m) in April to June, below a forecast of 3.24 billion crowns in a Reuters poll. (Reuters)